May We See Our Culpability In Our Distress

To my brothers and sisters in Christ: We know that we are in the world but should not be of the world. We are to be separate from the world for we are pilgrims in this life on our way to, as Bunyan called it, the Celestial City. I'm certain that this is easier in some countries than in others and possibly harder in America than any other country on earth. Why is this?  We have associated ourselves too much with the United States of America, going so far as to calling America a Christian nation which it never was. We partook of the unity that is so important to the strength of America but failed to only apply that unity to our patriotic and civic duty. We confused God's blessing upon our nation with being God's chosen nation. And we talked ourselves into believing that God would never let us fall for He loves us too much. All miscalculations, all serving only to blur the separation with the world that we are to have. Our latest failure was in not letting it be known early and at crunch time that we could not support a Mormon to be president thereby giving the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints what they have coveted since their beginnings, that being a Mormon leading America and proselytizing through that aura, power and influence. A first time reader to this blog might think me unpatriotic but nearly four years of blogs show a strong love of this country but a love less than for He who causes all nations to either rise or fall according to His purposes. But these aren't the only reasons that not only make us in this world but of it. I struggle all the time with this issue and lose most of that time. The desire not to have to deal with this is very strong. When alone, it is clear what I should do and how I should act but when I leave the confines of personal time I quickly talk myself into believing that I can win others over by being part of them. I do not influence them rather they influence me. If there are some out there who have not failed in this area may God bless and reward them for it but overall we as a Christian church in America have indeed failed. If this were not the case we would not be facing the dangers that we presently face. We also know that God works in many ways that are hard for us to comprehend. This is my hope, that we will see our culpability in our distress, that He will awaken us in the midst of it and that His mercies will be extended one more time not only to our nation but to multitudes who do not now know him!